Solid lubricant



7 heat supplied to melt the Patented Apr. 28, 1936 i SOLID LUBRICANTGavin R. Taylor, Montreal West, Quebec, and

Richard N.

Smith, Toronto, Ontarl assignors to McCall-Frontenac Montreal, Quebec,Canada 0, Canada, Oil Co. Limited,

No Drawing. Application July 10, 1933, Serial No. 679,710

. 3 Claims.

This invention relates to solid lubricants for the lubrication oflocomotive journals and other bearings operating at high speeds and hightemperatures and particularly to dehydrated lubricatingv compoundshaving a water content, less than one percent and a melting point of theorder of 400 F. or over.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved dehydratedlubricating compound which, in comparison with the similar compounds nowin use, has increased hardness and a dense consistency that enables itto bemore readily formed into blocks or cakes by pressing or molding andto retain its shape during all ordinary handling or shipping.

Another object is to provide a dehydrated lubricating compound having animproved fibrous structure which improves the retention of thelubricating oil by the sodium soap to provide at all times a properlubricating film over the working parts to which the lubricant isapplied.

In the practice of this invention dehydrated lubricating compounds ofimproved oil retaining and lubricating properties have been successfullyproduced in accordance with the following formula:

Per cent Heavy distilled naphthenic petroleum lub cating oil 30.8Residual naphthenic petroleum lubricating oil 13.6 Stearic acid 14.0Oleostearine 28.0 Caustic soda 6.6 Water 7.0

The above ingredients are compounded in an open-top fire heated kettleaccording to the following procedurez-The mineral oil and stearic acidare introduced into the kettle and suflicient fat. The caustic soda insolution in the water is then added while stirring the contents of thekettle with a paddle agitator. The heating and agitation is continueduntil the water content of the mixture is less than one percent. Theoleostearine is thenadded and the mixture heated to approximately 400 F.to bring it to the condition of a fibrous paste suitkettle. In thecooled compound produced in accordance with this invention ischaracterized by a melting point of loss finished product is sub- Percent Sodium soap 47.7 Free alkali (as NaOH) 0.6 Petroleum oil 48.1 Water0.5 Glycerine 3,1

The presence of the small amount of glycerine resulting from thesaponification of the oleostearine is found to improve the lubricatingproperties of the compound in some respects. The use of heavy distillednaphthenic petroleum lubricating oil and residual naphthenic petroleumlubricating oil in place of the unfiltered cylinder stock generally usedin the manufacture of dehydrated lubricating compounds has been found togive improved grease structure and lubricating properties. The use 01'both distilled heavy naphthenic oil and residual naphthenic oil whilenot absolutely essential is recommended because of the improved effectsobtained.

In the foregoing description the term nap thenic lubricating o is usedin the sense in which it is commonly employed in the trade to indicatelubricants produced from naphthenic crude oils. It may also be explainedthat .the viscosity characteristics of the naphthenic lubricating oilused in accordance with our invention are similar to lubricantsmanufactured from crude oils produced along the gulf coast of Texas, U.S. A. Such lubricating oils are characterized by a high viscwity at 100F. for the same viscosity at 210 F. when compared with parafliniclubricants. It is also important to note that whereas the lubricatingoils previously used in the manufacture of dehydrated driving journallubricants have a viscosity index varying from fifty (50) to one hundred(100), the viscous naphthenic lubricating oils which are preferably usedin accordance with our invention have a viscosity index of from zero tothirty (30). The term viscosity inde is widely used by the industry toclassify oils from varying crude oil sources by means of their viscositycharacteristics and the particular method which we have used fordetermining the viscosity index of the naphthe method of procedure whichfall within the scope and spirit 0'! the invention as defined by theappended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:-

1. A solid dehydrated lubricant for locomotive journals and the likecontaining, as its principal ingredients, highly viscous naphthenicpetroleum oil having a viscosity index of less than thirty and a sodiumsoap made from animal fat and stearic acid saponifled with caustic soda,the oil and soap together constituting approximately 95% of thelubricant and being present in substantially equal proportions togetherwith less than one percent water and from one to four percent glycerine.

2. A solid dehydrated lubricant for locomotive driving journals and thelike-containing, as its principal ingredients, highly viscous naphtheniepetroleum oil having a viscosity index of less than thirty and a sodiumsoap 'made from animal fat and stearlc acid saponified with caustic sodaimder conditions conducive to retention of glycerine in the finishedproduct, the oil and soap together constituting approximately 95% of thelubricant and being present in substantially equal proportions togetherwith not more than one percent 01 water and from one to four percentglycerine.

3. A solid dehydrated lubricant for locomotive driving journals havingsubstantially the follow- 15 ing analysis:-

Per cent Sodium soap- 47.? Free alkali (as NaOH) 0.6 Highly viscousnaphthenic oil 48.1 20 Water m5 Glyceri 3.1

GAVIN R. TAYLOR.

